A Garda manhunt has been launched for a dangerous Kinahan cartel member, who is wanted in relation to an elaborate murder plot that was foiled in the capital.

On Monday night, heavi­ly armed detectives from the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) intercepted a car in the north inner city and seized a loaded Beretta pistol fitted with a silencer.

Four well-known criminals were arrested for conspiring to murder violent drug dealer Gary Hanley (38), who has close links to the Hutch organised crime gang.

The Irish Independent can reveal that:

Gardaí are still attempting to track down a 33-year-old cartel member, who they sus­pect played a prominent role in orchestrating the murder plot.

The Blackrock home of a 39-year-old cartel associ­ate, who is suspected of in­volvement in the conspiracy but hasn't been arrested, was searched.

A number of the Hutch mob's high-level members made contact with the intended tar­get yesterday and have threat­ened to strike back against the cartel.

Extra security was yester­day put in place at the garda stations where the arrested men were being questioned over fears that Hutch associates would attempt an attack.

The sur­veillance oper­ation that led to the arrests had been on­going for sev­eral months and involved the monitoring of cars and houses by specialist detectives.

As part of Monday night's massive bust, 10 properties were searched and seven ve­hicles were also seized to be forensically examined.

Gardaí were last night at­tempting to track down the well-known member of the Kinahan cartel, who is suspect­ed of playing a prominent role in the murder plot.

This 33-year-old criminal has been involved with organised crime groups since his teens and is suspected of carrying out a number of attacks for the cartel.

It has also emerged that a 39-year-old man, who lives in the leafy Blackrock area, is suspected of being involved in the murder plot. He has been linked to the Kinahan cartel for a number of years and his home was searched as part of the probe into Monday night's foiled murder.

Last night, detectives were continuing to question the four well-known Dublin criminals for allegedly conspiring to murder Hutch gang associate Hanley (28).

Those detained include a volatile 38-year-old hitman for hire, who was only re­cently released from prison.